In his examination of the bishopric of Orvieto from 1100 to 1250, David Foote reveals how three defining developments of the Middle Ages - the feudal revolution, ecclesiastical reform, and state building - played out in a typical medieval Italian commune. He challenges scholarship that overemphasizes the secular nature of Italian city-states by showing the extent to which developments in ecclesiastical institutions provided a model for the formation of civic institutions and defined a commune's political and religious culture. Following the collapse of Carolingian authority in the tenth...

In his examination of the bishopric of Orvieto from 1100 to 1250, David Foote reveals how three defining developments of the Middle Ages - the feudal revolution, ecclesiastical reform, and state building - played out in a typical medieval Italian commune. He challenges scholarship that overemphasizes the secular nature of Italian city-states by showing the extent to which developments in ecclesiastical institutions provided a model for the formation of civic institutions and defined a commune's political and religious culture. Following the collapse of Carolingian authority in the tenth...